Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder (2023-) #1 (Harley Quinn Black + White + Red (2020-))

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This restored equilibrium to her mind, she found Clayface safe and sound, and everyone returned to their bodies in time to stop Sy Borgman from incinerating them. While the rest of the crew angrily confronted Sy, Harley looked around her surroundings at the Gotham Mall and suddenly exclaim this to be their new lair, making a deal with Sy that they could have it on the condition of letting him come along on some of their heists.

Of course, we would start off this book with the worst story in the entire series so far. Gail Simone has decided that the version of “Harley” she wants to use is the one that’s not like Harley at all. It’s the one that is a wholly unlikable character whose entire persona revolves around “Antics! Antics! Antics!”. She’s the one who speaks in fart jokes, sex jokes, poop jokes, and pop culture references for things that aren’t even widely known; so, I don’t know how anyone could find them funny. Darkseid I sense a great pain in you. Harley Nope, no pain. I'm good. Darkseid An anger, born from a want. A want that was not met. Harley If we could just move on to the-- Darkseid Are you trying to fill an empty hole in your life, Harley Quinn? Harley What is this guy, my therapist? Darkseid There are some holes that not even an army of Parademons can fill. Harley Definitely not. All my holes are filled up to the brim. [silence] Harley Nothing? Really?

Harley” spends her time blowing things up, screaming, and getting horny over everyone, but she makes cute faces sometimes, so I suppose we’re supposed to like her, right? Oh, and she reminds Ivy, her lobotomized and completely accepting girlfriend, that, don’t worry, she didn’t actually cheat on her this time, though she certainly seemed game for it. I guess that’s also supposed to make us like her? This is just a silly story where Harley is desperate to defeat Robin in a pet show with her hyenas, Bud and Lou. Harley definitely comes off as over-bearing and selfish. As someone who is trying so desperately to win something, but keeps falling on her face, however, we can feel some sympathy for her in the midst of her ridiculousness. Striking the right balance between silly, villainess, and slightly sympathetic? That sounds like Harley Quinn to me! Through this story, we get a natural and HONEST exploration of the matter of Harley trying to make up for her mistakes from the past. Gordon is portrayed very much in character as someone who would have a hard time ever forgiving Harley. Harley, however, is portrayed as someone who is going to have an even harder time ever forgiving herself. Hello? Is that character depth I see for Harley Quinn? Finally?!? What Queen of Fables made me realize, is if I want a crew, I shouldn't be looking for scumbags who believe in me, I should be looking for scumbags no one else believes in. ❞ — Harley Quinn

The only good thing I can say about this final story is that Harley would be 110% the type of person to watch soap operas. Everything else about this short story is awful though. In " Being Harley Quinn", it's suggested she is the same age as Frankie Muniz, which would put her birth year at around 1985 if the character's age is the same as that of the real-life actor although the character's age has never been confirmed. That said, once again, I will no longer be compromising with these books. I’m not talking about religion or politics here; I’m talking about comics. I should never have felt the need to water-down my opinions on how this character has been used and destroyed, and neither should anyone else. Without further delay, let’s get on to this review. “Deeply Strange Adventures” by Gail Simone and David Baldeon It felt very contrived to say that the entire life of this massive character would’ve changed just over a missed alarm and some car trouble in which she might miss her first appointment with the Joker.Three months after that, literally the entire prison insisted that the Joker was not coming for her, but Harley insisted that he would even until Poison Ivy hatched an escape plan and got Harley out of prison against her will. Afterward, Harley tried to return to the Joker immediately, but Ivy insisted that Harley diagnose herself - a hallucination of Doctor Quinzel asked Harley what should be done about a patient who was "fixated on a murderous psychopath and won't end their relationship no matter how terribly he treats her". Harley then immediately diagnosed the patient as a "classic abusive co-dependency" before realizing that she was diagnosing herself, and that she needed to end her relationship with the Joker. The reasons why people want Harley Quinn to return to her former state have been explained ad nauseam to this point. I don’t really see any benefit in projecting some malicious ulterior motive onto the people who hold this opinion. This story could have been interesting if it was done when Harley was a more grounded character. You’d have a girl that’s legitimately dangerous and insane out for revenge on the people who wronged her in the past. However, this is written and drawn like a Y. A. novel with no depth beyond “beat up your bully!” This doesn’t make too much sense since Harley herself is a crazy and violent person who is awful to be around. Later that night, Harley and Ivy broke into Nightfall's house although it took some convincing from Harley as worried about being there uninvited. Harley begged her and she eventually relented and they spent the night. However, in the morning, as Harley was preparing breakfast she was confronted by Livewire, Nightfall's girlfriend, who suddenly appeared out of the toaster. Livewire furiously questioned Harley about what she was doing there and got more and more angry as Harley avoided the question and asked about her relationship, although she calmed down upon seeing Ivy. They sat down and explained their situation and Ivy apologized. Not ready to accept her apology yet, Livewire threw them both out.

However, to Ivy's surprise, Lex Luthor announced Harley Quinn as the new member of the Legion of Doom despite Ivy's rejection, leading Harley to assume that Ivy simply did not believe in her. Afterward Harley got into an intense argument with Ivy, claiming that Ivy simply did not want Harley to succeed and move on because Harley was supposedly the only friend she'd ever had. After Ivy stormed out angrily, the ground beneath Harley's feat collapsed and dumped her into the basement of Gotham Mall, where Doctor Psycho and Sy Borgman were restraining a giant tentacle monster. As Doctor Psycho translated for the monster about how it felt abandoned by Sy Borgman, Harley began to realize that she lashed out at Ivy. After freeing the monster and going to the Legion of Doom, Harley debated reaching out to Ivy again, but decided against it. She then came face to face with the Joker himself. Who is she now? Well, the only consistent thing about her she’s supposed to have this kooky clown persona still – the persona that was made to match with Joker. So, the only defining trait of Harley Quinn is that she riffs off of Joker’s motif. That doesn’t sound like someone who is her own person or her own character.Baseball Bat: Harley's replacement weapon after she lost her mallet. In " New Gotham", Harley's bat is destroyed after her fight with The Penguin, although it can be assumed that she replaced it with a new one. In case you can’t tell, this version is based off of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor’s work. I don’t know how often I need to describe how this portrayal was the worst thing to ever happen to Harley Quinn. Their version of the character was basically a self-insert of a middle-aged couple who makes poop, sex, and pop culture jokes that are funny to mostly themselves, and I suppose to Gail Simone as well. Reading this kind of stuff is like pouring sewage into one’s mind. It’s the kind of writing that has made Harley so hated over time. During my time reviewing at Batman News, I’ve given most comics scores of about 6 or lower. That’s because, quite simply, I don’t think most comics released today even manage to be of average quality. I’m especially harsh on Harley comics. The problems DC has with writing her character run very deep and seem to be never ending in mainstream comics. DC editorial seems not to care about doing anything to remedy the situation. (This is disheartening to me since Harley Quinn is supposed to be my favorite character). Stjepan Sejic is a genius with his drawing and his placement and layout of panels are brilliant and poignant and the introduction of colour into the story is powerful and beautiful.